Month: March 2017

After the Grand Council took over the Greenygrey world before the second of the rambles trilogy the Greenygrey was divided: Green was imprisoned while Grey was deported to Oz. The Werewolf of Oz book started with an epic poem as Grey travelled space to Oz.

Now, over the last three nights, Stargazing Live has travelled down-under to Australia (Oz), and Brian Cox and Dara O’ Briain have been looking at some of the same sky that Grey fantasy rambled.

Here’s the poem:

Whizzing Earth’s space
I did race;
like Doctor Who’s Tardis,
through the northern
constellation of Camelopardus.

I think I passed through Cassiopeia
but to tell you the truth, it was all a blur;
it could well have been Andromeda.

Drifting through Ursa Major or Ursa Minor
I lost sight of the Great Wall of China
I recognised the three stars of Triangulum,
and felt a sense of equatorial equilibrium.

But then I saw another triangle
spinning my mind at an angle;
I asked ‘Dog Star’ Sirius
if it was aware of this?
It barked the name Triangulum Australe
adding I was now in the opposite locale.

When I saw the Southern Cross
I was no longer at a loss
I had read about constellation Crux
in some astronomical books.

I felt more at home in Chamaeleon
remembering my ability to chameleon
Norma was a lass, Hydrus a gas,
Mensa was a tester, Circinus a jester.

Into the atmosphere I whirled east to west
over the land of my looming test
I could make out the Great Barrier Reef
providing a valuable landmark brief
A long way from home I heard hound sound
whirled upside down I descended to ground.

Notes

Camelopardus, Cassiopeia, Andromeda, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor and Triangulum are all northern sky constellations.
Triangulum Australe, Crux, Chamaeleon, Norma, Hydrus, Mensa and Circinus are all southern sky constellations.Doctor Who is a television series featuring a time-traveller. The time machine in the series is called a Tardis.

It was World Poetry Day on March 21st, and we’re celebrating today, as part of the greenYgrey world’s Writing Month. While there is loads of great poetry in the first five chapters of XaW Files already posted, such as the Lemmonjoki one referenced in this one, there’s lots more in the final four chapters too. The one below is the first epic(ish) one I reached.

Swiss Border Poetry

Travelling from Switzerland to Germany it pushed the travel quest story ahead with Swiss clock precision and Swiss army knife multi-faceted writing, while also looking back at earlier chapters in this book and the previous book in the trilogy, and referencing great rock bands Deep Purple (Smoke on the Water relevance) and Krokus, and movie influences from my childhood to adverts in the present.

I recently had the pleasure of seeing meerkats in person, and they were as adorable, cute and interesting as Alexander Orlov and associates!

Chapter 7 Episode 12

Entering a new episode,
the Grand Hotel
had transformed
into The Territet.
Werewolfie said
the cuckoo clock
had told him
to get ready, set,
go…
so we left Montreux
now numbering nine
all alliterative line
saying goodbye
to the lake
known locally as Lac Lemon
reminded me of the Lemmonjoki
northern Finland river
that Jack Lemmon
helped me remember.

We made a quick detour
skirting the France border
to lakeside Lausanne
on the way to Bern
all the time be-wereing
not to overdo the steering
or tyres might burn-out
our tiredness make us fraught
I thought – thought – our team
is nearly complete
only Tarwolfino obsolete
I’m sure he’d understand
Tarantino deals a deadly hand
travel quest objective still alive
with two more chapters of strive
still to go – go – what’s in store
this and fifty-one episodes more.

Curved south on 5 to Thun
north again Interlaken to Lucerne
zig-zagged from Zug to Zurich
if you like natural beauty take your pick
wilderness park left, lake right
both were worthy of full-time sight
fitting in an aural Metal Rendezvouswith Krokus having more steel for you
than the average Swiss army knife
playing metal all their adult life
rolling stones gather no moss
would have been great to cross
the Germany border in WWII day
especially the Great Escape way
but we were passing through
in a nice way I’m trying to relay to you
welcomed by meerkats in Meersburg
and all kinds of corvids in Ravensburg
Grey reminisced rambling Oz golden shoresMeekatharra and Mollymook memory stores.

References

Territet is the new name of the Grand Hotel where Deep Purple witnessed the casino fire that inspired Smoke on the Water: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke_on_the_Water.
Krokus: Metal Rendezvous.Great Escape movie.
Last two lines reference our own Werewolf of Oz.

I entered the Alician rabbit hole
channelling Kerouac
travelled a decade
and I can’t go back
Rrose Selavy c’est la vie
emerging different person
Dr. Who change made
tardis can of art pop Lucozade
My writing reached its peak
finding something new
in time for centenary anniversary
of Duchamp’s readYmade artistic toiletry…

Toiletree Trajector3

Making of New greenYgrey readYmade

I visited google plus before here, just to check it out. I saw the third photo above first, commenting that it was great gYgPOPing (greenYgrey and PinkyOrangePop). Then I saw the second photo, and while thinking about the caption for it (thinking camouflage then blending in) I saw the first image, and thought it fitted together into a story, and kind of my Kerouac to Duchamp decade of creation trajectory.

I then wrote the introductory poem, which followed on from the last blog post celebrating the centenary anniversary of Marcel Duchamp’s toilet to fountain readymade.

After posting the blog I thought I should title it, having thought of that during the initial posting, but without thinking of the title, and seeing it all together toiletry3 emerged without hesitation!… but after another edit it’s in fact toiletree3!!… and a third edit to clarify that the second edit was of this paragraph, not the title!!!… and after a fourth, I extended it to Toiletree Trajector3, which also hopefully shows I wasn’t aiming for a fitting 3, but was ironically thought of while having my big morning/lunchtime clear-out on the toilet!!!!

When I read on Classic Rockthat Marilyn Manson had released a promo clip with the proclamation: “6:19. The time has come.” I immediately thought of XaW Files, and that I hadn’t blogged that episode yet. It’s a pretty good and eventful episode, so I can see why Marilyn Manson would particularly like it.

I was never into Marilyn Manson, but liked some of his groundbreaking creativity and outspoken views. Rammstein are the first such industrial-style band I’ve really liked and listened to.

This episode’s central theme is a The Good, The Bad and The Ugly parody, featuring famous Portuguese footballers instead of my favourite movie of that genre’s original characters.

Other common themes in this third of a trilogy book are reminders of earlier books in the trilogy and another band, Baron Rojo, who seem to have had a musical career similar to Metallica and Guns N’ Roses: starting raw and maturing to classic. I saw them at the Reading Festival in 1982:

Chapter 6 Episode 19

Three shots broke the desert silence, and three figures fell. They would not rise. Not in this book anyway, and this is the last we’ll know.

Catching Up Between Episodes

Standing in the baking desert heat was stifling, so we knew that time must be running out for our lost companions, who were somewhere out of sight in grave danger.

We therefore couldn’t wait to get on with the truel, but had to wait overnight between episodes.

When light broke, we realised the Spaghetti Western theme had evolved into one including sci-fi elements like time-travel multiverses, and we were not alone.

Thickening the Plot

We had been joined by the de Castro brothers Armando and Carlos, and Angel Arias, from a Spanish rock band called Baron Rojo I remembered seeing a long time ago.

From the mind of Cervantes, who Grey of course met in Western Australia WoO, there was Don Quixote, Sancho Panza and the author of the false Second Part of Don Quixote, Avellaneda.

And from a future journey I’d thought I was heading towards after Zaragoza; one that must be next on the cards, with only three episodes left in this chapter; there were the Portuguese footballers Eusebio, Luis Figo and Ronaldo.

Too Hot to Handle

Meanwhile, the heat had melted my three constituent colours into green, grey and yellow oozy liquid and we were running away down the inclines we had lined up on.

Luckily for us, and hopefully you, we ran into ourselves, and our chemical reaction saw us back on our feet in no time.

*The Good, the Bad and The Ugly Spoiler Alert*

Just in time to hear three shots ring out. I looked at Baron Rojo, and saw Angel Arias had been felled, just like Angel Eyes in The Good, The Bad and the Ugly.

*The Good, the Bad and The Ugly Spoiler Alert Finished*

Avellaneda seemed to have suffered a similar fate in the Cervantes group, while Ronaldo was down in the Portuguese footballers truel.

Love Mouse Latest

As the gunfire settled I thought I heard some familiar squeaking, and some that was more unfamiliar. I looked up and saw Love, Lovus and Lovulus running towards us, along with a mouse I remembered from somewhere.

The mouse overtook our mixed-up vole and offspring, but then overran us, so we had time to greet each other before Love introduced us to the returned Speedy Gonzalez; probably the funniest cartoon mouse ever.

Love said Speedy had put them up when they arrived at the graveyard not knowing why they had to be here, or what fate held for them.

In all the excitement I’d forgotten about Stella and Werewolfie, and now asked if they’d seen them.

Love said they’d stopped in Madrid, with Stella seeing an advert for an upcoming fashion show, while Werewolfie had seen the Madrid derby was on that weekend.

I might have known!

References

Baron Rojo are a legendary Spanish band who played at the Reading Festival in 1982.

Wikipedia: After that, they released their fourth studio album En un lugar de la marcha in 1985 with songs such as “Hijos de Caín” and “Cuerdas de acero”, as well as two live albums titled Barón al Rojo Vivo (1984) and Siempre Estáis Allí (1986).

The band then began experimenting with new elements including orchestral compositions, as can be heard on their 1987 album Tierra de Nadie.

Me: this seems a progression from raw early albums to classical later ones, like the Guns N’ Roses and Metallica career trajectories that influenced this trilogy.

As Gorky stressed the difference between plot and character stories, there is a similar greenYgrey divide centred on the Don Quixote books, between chivalric romance and the modern novel:

Don Quixote Themes from Wikipedia

It stands in a unique position between medieval chivalric romance and the modern novel. The former consist of disconnected stories featuring the same characters and settings with little exploration of the inner life of even the main character. The latter are usually focused on the psychological evolution of their characters. In Part I, Quixote imposes himself on his environment. By Part II, people know about him through “having read his adventures”, and so, he needs to do less to maintain his image. By his deathbed, he has regained his sanity, and is once more “Alonso Quixano the Good”.

When first published, Don Quixote was usually interpreted as a comic novel. After the French revolution it was popular for its central ethic that individuals can be right while society is quite wrong and seen as disenchanting. In the 19th century it was seen as a social commentary, but no one could easily tell “whose side Cervantes was on”. Many critics came to view the work as a tragedy in which Don Quixote’s idealism and nobility are viewed by the post-chivalric world as insane, and are defeated and rendered useless by common reality. By the 20th century the novel had come to occupy a canonical space as one of the foundations of modern literature.

Regular readers will know we’re celebrating Marcel Duchamp’s toilet to fountain artwork this year, in the centennial anniversary of its creation. So we’re interrupting writing month for today, which is of course Mother’s Day in the U.K.

Although Duchamp was male he did have a female pseudonym, as explained by Wikipedia: “Rrose Sélavy”, also spelled Rose Sélavy, was one of Duchamp’s pseudonyms. So this greenYgrey readYmade is for Rrose/Rose on Mother’s Day U.K.

It was first inspired by the squirrel photo on Google Plus, and then I remembered the story that ‘Apparent Sightings of the Tasmanian Tiger in Northern Australia have sparked a search for the long-extinct carnivore.’ on Yahoo News.

It was ironic that Russell Brand was leading Red Nose Day last night in the week that Westminster was attacked, after he launched his big publisher and bookstore publicity Revolution a couple of years ago, with Anonymous thinking he was leading them to a proper political revolution, including the kind of violence seen in the 2011 riots.

And the BBC is still wondering why the latest attack happened!

Sorry, if I haven’t been emotional enough about it, but I have been warning about it for 15-20 years… and been ignored… unlike Brand, who seems to do no wrong in the eyes of our national broadcasters’ gatekeepers!!

P.S. For one-dimensionals, I’m not saying Brand was personally involved in the Westminster attack, I’m just saying that his part in Multicultural Fascism created the cultural, political and ideological climate that could have pushed the murderer towards the attack he did.

P.P.S. I’m not criticising charity either, and hope good causes get as much money as possible.

I liked Man Booker Prize winner Richard Flanagan from what I saw of him in an Imagine documentary; especially leading a campaign against logging in Tasmania. Nearing the end of XaW Files, the third of a trilogy, and end of a decade of writing at the Greenygrey/greenYgrey, his view that writing diminishes you struck a particular chord with me at the time, and I included my thoughts on the subject.

Moreover, Flanagan didn’t want to ponder the ‘why?’ in the interview, and at the time of watching the documentary the greenYgrey was down to its central Y at the time as I wrote XaW Files, with green and grey elsewhere.

As I wrote in the episode and book, feeling the need to CLARIFY it in case anybody did read it, it was to add to the debate, as I’d learnt to do in university, rather than competing with Flanagan. I do think XaW Files should be up there with the ‘greats’ though!

I included it in the XaW Files story using the show don’t tell writing technique I knew after a decade of writing, although I also broke that rule sometimes writing in the first person, mixing formats in line with the ‘counter-culture’ media I’ve been influenced by, such as Banana Splits, Monty Python, Pink Floyd, Metallica and Guns N’ Roses.

If you think the greenYgrey is a strange concept for writing, and to travel the philosophical mind, Flanagan’s books include one set in the mind of a drowning man (Death of a River Guide), and one called Gould’s Book of Fish: A Novel in Twelve Fish.

It is the episode before one recently posted here, focusing on a Higher Form of Love, with lots of great breakfast comedy wordplay.

Chapter 8 Episode 15

We disembarked and indulged in a little sightseeing to find our land legs. Walking through the traditional wooden architecture Haga district I saw a poster advertising Kamchatka’s new album, Long Road Made of Gold.

I’d been told by my colleagues from the greenYgrey world who’d joined me along the way on this ramble that Kamchatka had released an album called The Search Goes On soon before I began my search for the ex-Andy Wolfhol.

I thought it was a coincidence, as I was searching, and Kamchatka in eastern Russia had been one of the first places I visited.

Parallel Long Gold Roads Searches

Now, Kamchatka had released a new album just over a year later, with my search still going on, and I found it after just becoming a single letter symbolising yellow. Moreover, when I looked up the band, I found that their home city is Varberg, and that Gothenburg where I had landed is the nearest big city to it; and the road between them looks golden on Google Maps.

However, in line with our parody theme I think I must lower the coincidence level, remembering that I am a golden rambler, not road, and all the other roads on Google Maps are yellow too.

There is First G, but No Final WhY?

While Captain Dec and Dai on the Seas slept on the Rum Deal, we booked into the First Hotel G, because it reminded those who knew green and grey of them. After unpacking and relaxing, we all met up in the restaurant for an evening meal, and then let it settle in the TV room.

Funnily enough, there was an Imagine documentary about Richard Flanagan on. He’d won the Man Booker Prize, after his work was at first considered unfit to review by some Australian critics, because it didn’t fit into the correct form.

Flanagan took part in Tasmania anti-logging protests. He said he’d had a lot of dirt thrown at him by corrupt officials, but a businessman joining their cause after reading his article helped turn the tide. I thought that was particularly in line with greenYgrey thinking, with everybody welcome to protect our planet’s remaining natural resources.

Flanagan also said he felt diminished by each book he wrote and published. When Alan Yentob asked him why, Flanagan answered: ‘There is no why. There just is.’ Maybe Flanagan didn’t have time to wonder why at the time of the interview; maybe he doesn’t want to think about it, or maybe it didn’t make the cut.

Wandering Y Wondering Why

I thought that was an eerie X Files coincidence, what with the greenYgrey’s current state of diminished size, as we approach the final chapter of the final ramble; with only me, a Y, remaining to tell the story.

Moreover, I have also felt the same as Flanagan: that each book written and published, or even poem or philosophical thought, diminishes you.

With the benefit of time, I think the reason I think that is that the writer is sharing themselves with the world, so that their thoughts and experiences are not all theirs anymore; your mind life is scattered all over the pages and world. This can be good and bad for your psyche and soul, hypothetically, releasing negativity and sharing positivity.

Our books from life experience are also material evidence of time elapsed. We can write a limited amount from personal experience in our finite time. Each book tells the story of a part of our lives that has passed. It has been lived and written.

In childhood and youth we look forward, with our minds and lives to fill with experiences, knowledge and memories. Writing about them is evidence that some have been found and achieved. However, it also shows that your life is not as full as it once was. You have already lived some of your life, and the hard evidence is on your written page; unavoidable evidence that your time in this life has diminished.

References

Imagine: Richard Flanagan, 21/7/15. Richard Flanagan seems intelligent, successful and worldly enough to know that I am trying to contribute to his discussion and thoughts, rather than indulging in one-upmanship.